"Mercilessness is not necessarily a true hero, how can love for one's child preclude being a man?" Haitang slowly repeated, the usual smile returning to her face as she led Fan Xian through the small wooden door of the temple.

"Lord Fan." Si Lili offered a graceful curtsy. Fan Xian responded with a warm but distant smile, returning the courtesy with clasped hands. "When did Miss Si arrive in Shangjing?"

"Thanks to your blessing, Lord, I arrived three days ago, a safe journey, thank you for your concern." Si Lili lowered her eyes slowly. She was still wearing the light green shirt from her journey. Now that the weather was warm, there was no fear of catching a chill.

Fan Xian exchanged a few more quiet words with her.

Haitang watched calmly from the side, a hint of a smile flashing in her eyes. The pretense of unfamiliarity between these two could not escape her notice. Fan Xian was also feeling rather strange. Why would Haitang bring him to the temple where Si Lili was staying? And where were the palace maids who had been attending to Si Lili? Did Haitang not know that, as a foreign official, he should maintain a distance of three thousand miles from the woman desired by the Emperor of Northern Qi?

"This is where I am staying." Haitang explained Fan Xian's doubts. "It is inconvenient for Lili to enter the palace now, so His Majesty has asked me to take care of her."

Fan Xian gave a bitter laugh, suddenly recalling Si Lili's words that these two girls were close friends in the Northern Qi palace. He suddenly wondered if Ku He was also living in the palace. Although the temple was remote, Fan Xian was still somewhat wary. After a few casual remarks, he said to Haitang, "I will wait for you outside, Miss." Without waiting for Haitang and Si Lili to reply, he went out and waited in the courtyard outside.

After he left, Haitang quietly looked at Si Lili, and after a long silence, suddenly said, "I brought him to see you, do you have nothing to say to him?"

Si Lili raised her head, a trace of bewilderment flashing across her extremely alluring face. She said softly, "I said I didn't want to see him. I reckon he doesn't want to see me either. Now he is outside the door, probably blaming you. Haitang, you are being too reckless. Even if you are Ku He's disciple, you should do less of these taboo things."

Haitang smiled gently, saying, "What's the harm in just looking? Our Emperor is not a petty person."

...

...

In another elegant and clean small room, wisps of fragrance gradually filled the meditation chamber. The amber color of the clear tea and furnishings blended together, giving a very peaceful feeling.

"Why did you bring me to see Si Lili?" Fan Xian sat cross-legged on the other side of the tea table, frowning. A touch of worry had finally appeared on his otherwise refined and otherworldly face. He was working hard to arrange things concerning Xiao En, but Si Lili was a hot potato.

"I mentioned Yan Bingyun earlier." Haitang said with a smile. "I wanted to see if Lord Fan is the same as the other vile creatures in the world."

"That's a rather novel and absurd way to put it, 'vile creatures.'"

"Has Lord Fan not read *The Story of the Stone*?" Haitang seemed somewhat surprised.

Fan Xian's heart skipped a beat. He did not respond, but said with a wry smile, "Miss Haitang, are you perhaps misunderstanding something? Miss Si Lili is just a dangerous criminal I was escorting, simply an item in an agreement. There is no connection between us."

"You misunderstand my meaning as well, Lord." Haitang said softly, "The reason I invited you to my humble abode today is that I really need your help with something."

"What is it?" Fan Xian asked directly.

Haitang said with a smile, "Actually, it's about the matter that troubled His Majesty when he kept you in the palace last time."

Fan Xian glanced at her, finding that this girl's unremarkable appearance made it easy to feel close to her. He asked curiously, "It was clear at that time that His Majesty didn't want you to know his troubles."

Haitang gently rolled up the sleeve of her right hand with her left hand, holding a small teacup to her lips with two fingers, and slowly sipped from it. She said, "His Majesty certainly didn't want me to know at first, but his troubles are related to a good friend with whom I have had many years of affection. And in the Great Qi court, besides me, there are few people who are willing to help him solve this trouble."

"I have never understood." Fan Xian, of course, guessed what the young Northern Qi Emperor was troubled by. He said with a smile, "Since there is such great opposition to Si Lili entering the palace from both the court and the common people, why is your Emperor still insisting on it? Judging from the current situation, since Si Lili can only temporarily stay at Miss Haitang's residence, it seems likely that the Empress Dowager will not allow her to enter the palace."

"Lord Fan suspects that there is a hidden reason behind this matter?"

"That's right. I have never believed that there is such a thing as 'affection' in the imperial family." For some reason, Fan Xian felt a vague sense of unease, and his words became much sharper.

Haitang paused, staring at him quietly for a long while before saying, "Emperors are also people. How can one be sure about matters between men and women?"

Fan Xian shook his head, thinking of the emperors of the previous world. Perhaps Emperor Xuanzong of Tang was an exception, but in the end, Yang Guifei still turned into a wisp of fragrant soul at Mawei Slope?

"Lord Fan is already married." Haitang said casually.

Fan Xian was slightly stunned, then immediately thought of his wife at home, and the first meeting in front of the incense table at the Qing Temple. A smile full of happiness could not help but appear on his lips.

Haitang noticed the expression on his face, sighed inwardly, and said with a smile, "I have heard that Lord Fan and his wife have a very good relationship. If someone were to prevent you two from being together, what would you do?"

Fan Xian raised his eyebrows, not answering, but if there really was someone in this world who dared to interfere between himself and Wan'er, then they would be courting death. Gradually, he seemed to understand the emotions of the young Emperor in the palace—but thinking that the object of his affection was Si Lili, Fan Xian still felt somewhat strange—even though his agreement with Si Lili was only a relationship of mutual exploitation.

What Haitang asked for was actually what Fan Xian wanted. If Si Lili could not enter the palace, the only thing that would be lost would be the Qing Kingdom's Supervisory Council. He just couldn't guess why she would think of asking himself.

Haitang said, "No one in the court is willing to help His Majesty welcome Si Lili into the palace. You should be aware, Lord, that Lili's identity in the South is somewhat problematic. And after all, my status limits my ability to speak on this matter."

Fan Xian sneered, "She was working for your Northern Qi." Then he asked, "Do I have any say? I am just a foreign official. This matter should have had nothing to do with me after Wudu River."

Haitang said with a smile, "His Majesty and I simply want to borrow your wisdom, Lord Fan."

Fan Xian chuckled, lightly smoothing the stray hairs on his forehead with his fingers, and said, "Miss Haitang, you are truly flattering me."

Haitang said calmly, "You were originally an unknown person, Lord Fan, but in just one year, you have become a world-renowned poet, a powerful figure in the Southern Dynasty. If anyone said that you were not intelligent, no one in this world would believe it."

"I will think of a way, but I don't know if it will work." Fan Xian took a sip of the remaining tea on the table, and said coldly, "The key is still the Empress Dowager. If the Empress Dowager is not willing, no method will succeed."

Haitang stood up and bowed slightly: "I thank you in advance."

"It seems that you and Si Lili have a very deep friendship." Fan Xian returned the bow, and said quietly, "If I ever need to ask for your help in the future, Miss, I hope you will remember the friendship between us today."

Haitang replied expressionlessly: "As long as it does not involve the politics of this country, I will grant any request."

Fan Xian said, "Don't worry, the matter I want to ask you to do may never happen. If it does happen, it will only be an internal problem of our Qing Kingdom, and it will not require you to go against your lifelong pursuit of naturalness."

"That would be good." Haitang felt a little relieved.

———————————————————————

As the official envoy of the Southern Dynasty, all of Fan Xian's actions in Shangjing had to be under the surveillance of the Northern Qi court. This was a tacit understanding and custom in diplomatic affairs between the two sides, so it was extremely difficult to have complete freedom of action. However, today was an exception, because Fan Xian was taking a walk with Miss Haitang. Miss Haitang clearly did not like those rats from the Embroidered Uniform Guard following them, so they walked along with an umbrella, seemingly strolling leisurely, but they shook off all the hidden guards. It was believed that those Embroidered Uniform Guards did not have the courage to continue following them after Haitang had expressed obvious hostility.

After coming out of the strange little temple where the two girls lived, Fan Xian stretched lazily and noticed that there were no familiar Embroidered Uniform Guards at the corner of the street. A happy smile appeared on his face as he walked towards an alley at the corner of the street.

There was no sunshine after the rain, only a clear breeze blowing through the branches, occasionally dropping dewdrops that brushed against his cheeks.

Thinking of Si Lili and the Emperor, Fan Xian still did not quite understand, but the topics Haitang had mentioned earlier brought the thoughts of this seventeen-year-old boy back to the capital, back to his wife and younger sister. Feelings of homesickness began to rise, and a warm feeling began to fill his heart.

Occasionally pedestrians passed by the entrance of the alley, and some laborers were pushing carts, taking a shortcut to the shops where they worked. Fan Xian walked slowly towards the entrance of the alley, with a warm and gentle smile like sunshine on his face.

A cart was pushed from behind him. Just as it was about to brush past him, Fan Xian flipped his wrist, and a black dagger, which had been held in his palm, stabbed horizontally!

With a muffled thud, the dagger pierced the throat of the secret agent disguised as a laborer. The cold blade entered the flesh, and the man died instantly on the ground.

In the next moment, Fan Xian had stepped on the overturned cart, and his whole body floated like a shadow to the end of the alley. His fingers clamped a poisoned needle, stabbing it into a major acupoint on a person's chest. His left hand emerged from under his right armpit in an extremely bizarre manner, and three crossbow bolts were fired simultaneously, nailing another person, who was looking completely stunned, to death.

With a backhand chop that shattered the cervical vertebrae of the person whose entire body was numb and unable to move, Fan Xian took off his clothes, turned them inside out, and used a rain hat to cover his head and face, concealing his sunny smile. He pulled the crossbow bolts out of the dead body and walked out of the alley.